He Gave Me Up, Now He’s Crying

The third time Charles cheated on me, I broke down, grabbed a knife, and pressed it to my chest.

"If I die today, the Moon Goddess will punish you. This is what you get for cheating!"

That was what frightened him. The blade was silver. If it so much as touched my skin, the wound would never heal.

My mother rushed over to wrestle the knife away from me. "Zoe, no matter what happens, don't hurt yourself!"

"Leave me alone and let me die. He's out there chasing other women, so I'll die right in front of him!"

In the struggle, the knife went straight into my mother's chest. She clutched at it, and blood soaked red through her clothes.

She was barely breathing, and still she held on to my shirt. "Zoe, live a good life."

After she died, Charles withdrew from everyone. He stayed with me every day, more attentive than he had been when we were dating.

Every full moon, he prayed to the Moon Goddess for me.

But I screamed like a madwoman every single day. "My mother isn't dead! I can feel that she's still alive!"

Charles took me to a therapist, Dr. Merrick, who confirmed I had depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The most immediate effect was that my wolf disappeared. All my senses dulled.

But I never stopped believing she was alive, even though the sharp knife and all that blood kept telling me I had killed her myself.

Slowly, I started to believe I really was sick.

That changed the day I saw her at a jewelry counter in a department store.

But no matter how hard I told myself my mother was dead, it didn't work. I even heard her voice.

"Charles, did you get rid of that knife? Don't let Zoe find it, or she'll go after Vivian."

"Threw it out ages ago. Zoe will never know it was a retractable prop and not silver at all. You're the one who has to stay hidden, Marlene. You can never show your face in public again."

My mother shook her head, smiling. "What you and Vivian have moves me. I'm only doing the right thing."

I stood frozen where I was. It was as if a pair of invis